Government and Politics

RALEIGH – For years North Carolina has ranked as one of the top places for business. Forbes ranked the state fourth in September based on the cost of doing business here, the quality of its labor force and its regulatory ...

CORNELIUS – The town of Cornelius Planning Board on Wednesday took three very confusing votes on the long-embattled Barnhardt single-family subdivision plan. First the appointed Planning Board on Wednesday night voted to recommend that the town’s elected Board of Commissioners ...

HUNTERSVILLE – The Huntersville town planning staff report released Wednesday on a proposed single-family senior-living subdivision pretty much says: “No way.” Repeatedly. For eight pages. The block lengths don’t work with the lot sizes, the front-loading garages are not recessed ...

CHARLOTTE – Mayor Patsy Kinsey and members of City Council on Friday were scheduled to attend the grand opening of The Retreat at Renaissance, the first phase of a mixed-income community that will have 110 units for seniors on a ...

HUNTERSVILLE – An “enterprise center” that would be a key component of a plan to revitalize the ramshackle trailer-park neighborhood of Huntington Green has run into opposition from a handful of the residents the nonprofit behind the project hopes to ...

CORNELIUS – The town of Cornelius might be ready to switch rather than fight. The town’s elected Board of Commissioners and appointed Planning Board, operating under a land-use plan that dates all the way back to 1996 and a zoning ...

For a portion of the Indian Trail Town Council meeting Tuesday night, it seemed like a sanctioned parade for the proposed Monroe Bypass. Officials from state, county and local organizations raved about how the 19.7-mile toll road that would run from Stallings to Marshville would boost economic viability on U.S. Highway 74. They made a good case for the bypass, spouting facts about long commute times, heavy tractor-trailer use and how local businesses would benefit. But the opposition to the scrutinized bypass proposal wasn’t invited to speak at the council meeting, making the job easier.

DAVIDSON – Democracy is a funny business – both ha-ha and just plain weird. Writ large – as in the federal shutdown – the comedy and tragedy of our system of government fills the cable news network airtime. But on ...

State and federal transportation officials are putting the final touches on a second draft environmental report on the proposed Monroe Bypass, as nearby towns debate the project’s merits. Meanwhile, a lead bypass construction contractor continues to collect payments even though all work on the project has been suspended – and even as the company and four of its employees face federal fraud charges not related to the bypass work.

Some Charlotte homeowners will soon start receiving corrected 2011 property tax evaluations as a county-hired appraiser just completed a first batch of revaluations in Myers Park.
The completed revaluations by Pearson’s Appraisal Service of 247 parcels were approved by Mecklenburg County Commissioners on Tuesday.